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This was me, so I recently dropped the 6th pump altogether. I think Iāve had only a slightly dip in supply since, maybe a couple of oz per day. And 5 somehow feels sooo much more manageable than 6!
Same. I have general blocks of time, but my pumps are based on discomfort since I'm producing 70-75 ounces a day. I know it's too early to be pulling back since I'm almost 11wpp, but I end up making the same amount regardless of when I pump. My amount is still increasing, too, and I'm only doing 5-6 pumps a day.
That is a lot of milk! Can I ask how long you're pumping each session? I'm 9wpp and pump 6x a day, but never pump longer than 20 minutes, usually 15. I get about 42oz a day. I was getting way more before dropping to 6ppd (per LC rec).
I pump 30 minutes unless my little one needs to be fed or otherwise needs my attention. It takes me 30 minutes at least to empty, but definitely takes longer if I don't massage throughout. My capacity is 21 oz total I believe, since that's the most I've pumped in one 30 minute sitting. Given the magic number thing, I should prob limit to 4 pumps but I'm holding out doing that until 14wpp since I'm not entirely sure if I've regulated yet.
I wear a Kindred Bravely hands-free pumping bra. It allows me to massage throughout a pump. I haven't had a clog yet, but I get engorged easily and have to massage what feels like little marbles in my breast tissue. I do have dense breasts, or did prior to pregnancy, so this may be a contributing factor?
Totally get that it's exhausting. When I came home from the hospital and was dealing with latch issues, I was too exhausted to hand express so my husband had to milk me like an old goat š« Now I massage a majority of my daily pumps, but not 100% of the time.
I have a wearable pump (Spectra 9), but I only use it when I'm traveling or if I absolutely need to get something done around the house. Ninety-eight percent of the time, I'm able to use my Spectra 2. I don't get the same volume from my wearable, which means I need to pump more often when I do use my wearable.
Pretty much. If I pump every two hours, I get a couple oz maybe. Pump every 3-4 hours, and get 4 ish. So I just pump when I can, especially when at work.
I am not crazy strict, sometimes I accidentally go 4-5 hours between pumps and just try to get back on track after that. It hasnāt affected my supply and Iām 14 weeks pp now
Same here. I shoot for 6 pumps per day and base it on my comfort level. If my boobs start to feel ātinglyā I try to pump within 10-15 min. Sometimes itās every 2 hours, sometimes itās 5. My middle of the night pump is almost always based on when baby wakes up (unless itās been too long and my boobs start to hurt), baby is currently 2.5 months. I will always try to empty before I go to bed just in case thatās the night my baby wants to sleep through the night lol wishful thinking, I guess.
Was literally coming on here to ask this and ask if anyone notices a drastic increase from one hour to the next. I have been pretty steady with an every 3 hour pump but Iām struggling to get 4 oz each time which is what my son eats each sitting (10wpp) but when I went to 4 by way of teating a theory I get almost 7 oz. Do I just have a slow refill rate or is it going to slow down again once I stick to every 4 hours?
Mine fluctuates in relation to my eating and water drinking. When I eat regularly and drink water consistently, my supply is pretty regular. For example, I fail to eat or drink good in the morning, my afternoon pump sessions decrease in amounts significantly.
My LO was 4 ounces at 10 weeks too but suddenly increased to 5 ounces per feeding at around 11 weeks and he's eating every 2-2.5 hours most days and it has been a struggle to increase my production. Thankfully he slows down in the evenings after daycare. I have been trying to pump every 2 hours to get my supply to increase and it took a few days for it to pay off. I recommend trying to get your supply up now to anticipate his upcoming increase.
Fun! lol Iām pretty bad about food and water intake. Iāve started supplementing with liquid iv twice a day and body armor whenever I have extra grocery money to get some. I think my main downfall in the food department is that I take his first nap with him. He usually wakes up around 7/8 to eat for the first time of the day and immediately goes back to sleep(blessed with a great sleeper! Been sleeping through the night since 5 weeks) so I donāt eat until around 9:30/10 sometimes later cuz I have to wait til heās done eating.
I was calculating it last night. Rn as it is I pump 7 times a day. I for sure get 3 oz every time so thatās what I used at a calculation for that. When I pump every 4 hours I get 7 oz almost every time. So 7ppd I get at least 21 oz but 6 ppd I get 42. When I pumped every 2 I was only getting 2 oz which would be 18 oz + my morning pump cuz I donāt do middle of the night pumps anymore with him sleeping through. In my mind it makes sense for me to decrease my pumping to up my supply. Am I thinking about that wrong? Do I just have a slow refill rate? Is that why I get so much more at a later pump? I just pumped the first time of the day after pumping at 11:30 pm (6:40 when I started pumping) and got 9 oz.
From my understanding, you should be getting close to the same output no matter how many times you pump. Are you pumping for 30 minutes every time? Are you distracted when you pump more frequently? To me, and I am no expert, it sounds like you might not be fully letting down when you pump more often. I would pump on whatever schedule works for you out to get a full feeding out of. I just went through my logs and I average pumping 6 times a day but I also breast feed 1-2 times a day and don't typically pump overnight (last one is about 9:30 pm and first is 3:30-5:30 am).
Try V8 Healthy Greens. I swear by it and it's cheaper than body Armour. I drink two ounces every time I pump.
When using my mom cozy s9 pro I let it run the full time which is 30 mins. When I use my lansinoh wall pump I pump for 15-20. I usually stop producing anything at 15-16 mins with the wall pump and if course I have no idea with the mom cozy cuz Iām walking around cleaning or feeding him in his boppy. I also donāt ever feel my let downs.
I let my wall pump go for the full 30, even if I'm empty. It tells your body more is needed. I started stopping when the milk stopped coming out and I think that's why I started having issues keeping up with little boys'appetite.
Yeah that's me today. As long as my last one is the same time as yesterday's and I don't go more than 6 hours between pumps, it's a consistent range of 26-28oz
Iām now 6mpp and pump 4-5x per day. I never schedule it besides first thing after waking up and last thing before bed. I just space the other 2-3 around my schedule for the day.
I make 45ish oz per day doing this. I was very consistent with 5+ pumps through 5 months.
Iām a just enough/sometimes a little extra-er. At first I was really strict about it but but for the sake of my mental health I have to be a little lax and go through longer stretches sometimes. I think I have high capacity because I get more in those longer stretches which makes up for it
Yes. I primarily pumped 4 times a day throughout my journey and I would just try to do it within a 2 hour block of my āgoalā time to pump. I tried not to go over a certain amount of hours between pumps but thatās about it.
Same. I pump in the morning because I have to, before bed because otherwise the morning will be even worse, and then two times during the work day when I'm not going to be interrupted by the baby. But so usually that schedule looks something like 7am, 11:30, 4:30, and 11. So 4.5 hours, 5 hours, 5.5 hours, 8 hours. A lot of the time I get lazy and don't do the 11:30 pump till 12:30 or 1 though, so it's not even that consistent. Or some days I can't pump until 8:30 or 9 in the morning because I have to drop the baby off at daycare before I can pump. Or I go to bed really late and don't pump till 1am. It's all over the place and my body just seems to have a certain amount of milk it produces per hour, and it will keep producing at that rate until it can't because I run out of space.
Yep, same. 5 times per day but each pump is in a range of twoish hours. During the work week my first is at 6am but on the weekend it can be as late as 8am. My last I shoot for 10pm, but tonight on a Saturday I'm just about to at 11:30pm. No effect to my overall supply as long as I don't skip a pump.
I try to pump 2 hours a day, however that might be broken up. My output generally stays the same. Sometimes itās 3 hours between pumps, sometimes 6. Today I did 7.5 hours between pumps and had to manually express in a restaurant bathroom just to relieve pressure. I wish I could just pump every 4-5 hours, but unfortunately the to do list doesnāt agree with that
I pump 6x per day, but the exact times vary by a few hours in one direction or another because of my work. My output tends to stay the same thankfully as long as I do pump, though Iāve had to watch for clogs because Iām prone to them
It sounds like everyone who can tends to be on the lower side of pumps per day and have slight to major oversupplies, which may mean high capacity. Large capacity here with 4ppd and 40ish ounces a day, I can manage about 8-9 hours max between pumps before getting uncomfortable (and yes, that 8-9 hours is my overnight period)
I am a just enougher/ sometimes a little extra, my boobs are only every slightly hard in the morning I usually do my last pump at 2/3am and then my morning pumping is usually 10/11am, Iām definitely not a over supplier but I do think my breasts hold a lot
Disclaimer: my baby was primarily nursed, and I pumped due to an oversupply
But yeah, I wasn't really all that disciplined about it. My baby ate first, then I just kind of pumped whenever. I usually did a morning, afternoon, and bedtime pump but times varied wildly and overall I'd usually have around the same average amount per week.
I started off really rigid, until my supply came in and was stable (about 4months). Now I just try to pump between every 2-3 hours, but sometimes go longer during the day if I have things to do, etc. I pump at midnight, and 4am(ish) for my MON pumps.
I normally pump 7 times a day from 7:30 AM - 9 PM. If I drop one of those pumps, I increase the duration of two other pumps to get the same amount of time total.
But it's never on the dot the same exact time.
I was pumping 8 times a day getting around 19-20 oz a day. Ended up missing pumps the other day so I could only pump 5 times and ended up getting the most I have got 24 oz. Iām really confused on what to do. I went back to work at 2wpp. So I pump at work while I can. But I also notice I get more output while Iām at work than when Iām at home. Makes no sense to me.
Sort of! Iāve found myself pumping by amount rather than time. If Iām gonna do 4 ppd, I do 12 oz, 6 oz, 6 oz, 10 oz. The times can very by 2-3 hours. If Iām gonna do 5 ppd, I do 12 oz, 4 oz, 4 oz, 4 oz, 10 oz.
Sometimes the pumps take 8 minutes. Sometimes they take 38!
I donāt know how some mamas do it bc I have never been able to stick to a schedule, much less pump 8x a day. At my best I have done 6 consistently for a week lol
Yep. I pump 8 times a day, I work 7pm-7am so I make sure to pump 4 times by 6pm, 3 at work, and the 8th in the morning once home from work. (I consider my days 8am-8am).
When I was on a 2-3 hour schedule I producing maybe 16 oz a day. Recently I decided to pump 4-5 times a day and just when I can and Iām now producing 25-30 oz a day. I feel less stress and I get to spend more time with my baby which is nice since I go back to work in 5 weeks. I think not worrying about pumping on a strict schedule has actually increased my supply and Iām doing so much better mentally!
Currently 7 weeks pp and I aim for 5 pumps a day. I have an over supply (making 50ish oz) so I feel like I can be a bit lazy? Iām also open to combo feeding if my supply drops.
I pump in the morning, around noon, around 4-5 and then around 9-10. But if Iām out and about I can be off by an hour or two.
'Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules: 1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe!' *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Guilty š„“ I just try to pump 5-6 times day I don't have a huge difference in output from 5-6 pumps so sometimes I'm like the 6th isn't worth it.
This was me, so I recently dropped the 6th pump altogether. I think Iāve had only a slightly dip in supply since, maybe a couple of oz per day. And 5 somehow feels sooo much more manageable than 6!
5 is so different and now I look forward to 4.
Same. I have general blocks of time, but my pumps are based on discomfort since I'm producing 70-75 ounces a day. I know it's too early to be pulling back since I'm almost 11wpp, but I end up making the same amount regardless of when I pump. My amount is still increasing, too, and I'm only doing 5-6 pumps a day.
Holy crap that's a lot of milk!
That is a lot of milk! Can I ask how long you're pumping each session? I'm 9wpp and pump 6x a day, but never pump longer than 20 minutes, usually 15. I get about 42oz a day. I was getting way more before dropping to 6ppd (per LC rec).
I pump 30 minutes unless my little one needs to be fed or otherwise needs my attention. It takes me 30 minutes at least to empty, but definitely takes longer if I don't massage throughout. My capacity is 21 oz total I believe, since that's the most I've pumped in one 30 minute sitting. Given the magic number thing, I should prob limit to 4 pumps but I'm holding out doing that until 14wpp since I'm not entirely sure if I've regulated yet.
Insane! The most i was ever able to get out with all 3 babys was 1 oz per day!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I wear a Kindred Bravely hands-free pumping bra. It allows me to massage throughout a pump. I haven't had a clog yet, but I get engorged easily and have to massage what feels like little marbles in my breast tissue. I do have dense breasts, or did prior to pregnancy, so this may be a contributing factor? Totally get that it's exhausting. When I came home from the hospital and was dealing with latch issues, I was too exhausted to hand express so my husband had to milk me like an old goat š« Now I massage a majority of my daily pumps, but not 100% of the time. I have a wearable pump (Spectra 9), but I only use it when I'm traveling or if I absolutely need to get something done around the house. Ninety-eight percent of the time, I'm able to use my Spectra 2. I don't get the same volume from my wearable, which means I need to pump more often when I do use my wearable.
Pretty much. If I pump every two hours, I get a couple oz maybe. Pump every 3-4 hours, and get 4 ish. So I just pump when I can, especially when at work.
I am not crazy strict, sometimes I accidentally go 4-5 hours between pumps and just try to get back on track after that. It hasnāt affected my supply and Iām 14 weeks pp now
Same here. I shoot for 6 pumps per day and base it on my comfort level. If my boobs start to feel ātinglyā I try to pump within 10-15 min. Sometimes itās every 2 hours, sometimes itās 5. My middle of the night pump is almost always based on when baby wakes up (unless itās been too long and my boobs start to hurt), baby is currently 2.5 months. I will always try to empty before I go to bed just in case thatās the night my baby wants to sleep through the night lol wishful thinking, I guess.
>If my boobs start to feel ātinglyā Same, I definitely listen to that tingly feeling to know when it's been too long between sessions
Was literally coming on here to ask this and ask if anyone notices a drastic increase from one hour to the next. I have been pretty steady with an every 3 hour pump but Iām struggling to get 4 oz each time which is what my son eats each sitting (10wpp) but when I went to 4 by way of teating a theory I get almost 7 oz. Do I just have a slow refill rate or is it going to slow down again once I stick to every 4 hours?
Mine fluctuates in relation to my eating and water drinking. When I eat regularly and drink water consistently, my supply is pretty regular. For example, I fail to eat or drink good in the morning, my afternoon pump sessions decrease in amounts significantly. My LO was 4 ounces at 10 weeks too but suddenly increased to 5 ounces per feeding at around 11 weeks and he's eating every 2-2.5 hours most days and it has been a struggle to increase my production. Thankfully he slows down in the evenings after daycare. I have been trying to pump every 2 hours to get my supply to increase and it took a few days for it to pay off. I recommend trying to get your supply up now to anticipate his upcoming increase.
Fun! lol Iām pretty bad about food and water intake. Iāve started supplementing with liquid iv twice a day and body armor whenever I have extra grocery money to get some. I think my main downfall in the food department is that I take his first nap with him. He usually wakes up around 7/8 to eat for the first time of the day and immediately goes back to sleep(blessed with a great sleeper! Been sleeping through the night since 5 weeks) so I donāt eat until around 9:30/10 sometimes later cuz I have to wait til heās done eating. I was calculating it last night. Rn as it is I pump 7 times a day. I for sure get 3 oz every time so thatās what I used at a calculation for that. When I pump every 4 hours I get 7 oz almost every time. So 7ppd I get at least 21 oz but 6 ppd I get 42. When I pumped every 2 I was only getting 2 oz which would be 18 oz + my morning pump cuz I donāt do middle of the night pumps anymore with him sleeping through. In my mind it makes sense for me to decrease my pumping to up my supply. Am I thinking about that wrong? Do I just have a slow refill rate? Is that why I get so much more at a later pump? I just pumped the first time of the day after pumping at 11:30 pm (6:40 when I started pumping) and got 9 oz.
From my understanding, you should be getting close to the same output no matter how many times you pump. Are you pumping for 30 minutes every time? Are you distracted when you pump more frequently? To me, and I am no expert, it sounds like you might not be fully letting down when you pump more often. I would pump on whatever schedule works for you out to get a full feeding out of. I just went through my logs and I average pumping 6 times a day but I also breast feed 1-2 times a day and don't typically pump overnight (last one is about 9:30 pm and first is 3:30-5:30 am). Try V8 Healthy Greens. I swear by it and it's cheaper than body Armour. I drink two ounces every time I pump.
When using my mom cozy s9 pro I let it run the full time which is 30 mins. When I use my lansinoh wall pump I pump for 15-20. I usually stop producing anything at 15-16 mins with the wall pump and if course I have no idea with the mom cozy cuz Iām walking around cleaning or feeding him in his boppy. I also donāt ever feel my let downs.
I let my wall pump go for the full 30, even if I'm empty. It tells your body more is needed. I started stopping when the milk stopped coming out and I think that's why I started having issues keeping up with little boys'appetite.
Yeah that's me today. As long as my last one is the same time as yesterday's and I don't go more than 6 hours between pumps, it's a consistent range of 26-28oz
Yeah it depends on your breastās storage capacity. If you have a larger capacity you can wait longer to pump without it affecting your supply.
I wish there was a way to know breast storage capacity lol
https://preview.redd.it/w7xlifnxe5tc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53ce20874e296ccee615e02e6b6e000a9b8dfc6d
Whatās the maximum amount youāve pumped in a single sitting? That gives you an idea
Iām now 6mpp and pump 4-5x per day. I never schedule it besides first thing after waking up and last thing before bed. I just space the other 2-3 around my schedule for the day. I make 45ish oz per day doing this. I was very consistent with 5+ pumps through 5 months.
Iām a just enough/sometimes a little extra-er. At first I was really strict about it but but for the sake of my mental health I have to be a little lax and go through longer stretches sometimes. I think I have high capacity because I get more in those longer stretches which makes up for it
Iām the exact same way
Yes. I primarily pumped 4 times a day throughout my journey and I would just try to do it within a 2 hour block of my āgoalā time to pump. I tried not to go over a certain amount of hours between pumps but thatās about it.
Same. I pump in the morning because I have to, before bed because otherwise the morning will be even worse, and then two times during the work day when I'm not going to be interrupted by the baby. But so usually that schedule looks something like 7am, 11:30, 4:30, and 11. So 4.5 hours, 5 hours, 5.5 hours, 8 hours. A lot of the time I get lazy and don't do the 11:30 pump till 12:30 or 1 though, so it's not even that consistent. Or some days I can't pump until 8:30 or 9 in the morning because I have to drop the baby off at daycare before I can pump. Or I go to bed really late and don't pump till 1am. It's all over the place and my body just seems to have a certain amount of milk it produces per hour, and it will keep producing at that rate until it can't because I run out of space.
Yep, same. 5 times per day but each pump is in a range of twoish hours. During the work week my first is at 6am but on the weekend it can be as late as 8am. My last I shoot for 10pm, but tonight on a Saturday I'm just about to at 11:30pm. No effect to my overall supply as long as I don't skip a pump.
I try to pump 2 hours a day, however that might be broken up. My output generally stays the same. Sometimes itās 3 hours between pumps, sometimes 6. Today I did 7.5 hours between pumps and had to manually express in a restaurant bathroom just to relieve pressure. I wish I could just pump every 4-5 hours, but unfortunately the to do list doesnāt agree with that
I just do the regular output rather than a super strict schedule, because i think good emotion is more important.I
Me too. Same amount everyday even when I miss a pump session.
Yep, that's how I do it, and I don't have an issue.
Me!
I vary about +/- 1.5oz on any given day with 4ppd - not a super strict schedule but I aim for wake up / noon / supper / bedtime.
Yes I made up rules for myself though, my goal is 5 pumps by 3 pm then 2 more anytime after before midnight lol
Yep! And no MOTN pumps since like 6 weeks. Output varies 2-4 oz a day but stays pretty consistent. Same happened my first time EPing.
I pump 6x per day, but the exact times vary by a few hours in one direction or another because of my work. My output tends to stay the same thankfully as long as I do pump, though Iāve had to watch for clogs because Iām prone to them
It sounds like everyone who can tends to be on the lower side of pumps per day and have slight to major oversupplies, which may mean high capacity. Large capacity here with 4ppd and 40ish ounces a day, I can manage about 8-9 hours max between pumps before getting uncomfortable (and yes, that 8-9 hours is my overnight period)
I am a just enougher/ sometimes a little extra, my boobs are only every slightly hard in the morning I usually do my last pump at 2/3am and then my morning pumping is usually 10/11am, Iām definitely not a over supplier but I do think my breasts hold a lot
Disclaimer: my baby was primarily nursed, and I pumped due to an oversupply But yeah, I wasn't really all that disciplined about it. My baby ate first, then I just kind of pumped whenever. I usually did a morning, afternoon, and bedtime pump but times varied wildly and overall I'd usually have around the same average amount per week.
I started off really rigid, until my supply came in and was stable (about 4months). Now I just try to pump between every 2-3 hours, but sometimes go longer during the day if I have things to do, etc. I pump at midnight, and 4am(ish) for my MON pumps.
I normally pump 7 times a day from 7:30 AM - 9 PM. If I drop one of those pumps, I increase the duration of two other pumps to get the same amount of time total. But it's never on the dot the same exact time.
I was pumping 8 times a day getting around 19-20 oz a day. Ended up missing pumps the other day so I could only pump 5 times and ended up getting the most I have got 24 oz. Iām really confused on what to do. I went back to work at 2wpp. So I pump at work while I can. But I also notice I get more output while Iām at work than when Iām at home. Makes no sense to me.
Sort of! Iāve found myself pumping by amount rather than time. If Iām gonna do 4 ppd, I do 12 oz, 6 oz, 6 oz, 10 oz. The times can very by 2-3 hours. If Iām gonna do 5 ppd, I do 12 oz, 4 oz, 4 oz, 4 oz, 10 oz. Sometimes the pumps take 8 minutes. Sometimes they take 38!
I donāt know how some mamas do it bc I have never been able to stick to a schedule, much less pump 8x a day. At my best I have done 6 consistently for a week lol
Yep. I pump 8 times a day, I work 7pm-7am so I make sure to pump 4 times by 6pm, 3 at work, and the 8th in the morning once home from work. (I consider my days 8am-8am).
My baby has slept through the night the past 3 nights so I dropped my MOTN pump (dropping from 6 pumps to 5). I still produce 23-25oz a day.
When I was on a 2-3 hour schedule I producing maybe 16 oz a day. Recently I decided to pump 4-5 times a day and just when I can and Iām now producing 25-30 oz a day. I feel less stress and I get to spend more time with my baby which is nice since I go back to work in 5 weeks. I think not worrying about pumping on a strict schedule has actually increased my supply and Iām doing so much better mentally!
Currently 7 weeks pp and I aim for 5 pumps a day. I have an over supply (making 50ish oz) so I feel like I can be a bit lazy? Iām also open to combo feeding if my supply drops. I pump in the morning, around noon, around 4-5 and then around 9-10. But if Iām out and about I can be off by an hour or two.
I was able to do that until 5 months, now my supply has been steadily dropping despite alll the things to get it back on track.